Douglas M Robinson's Page

Profile Information

What does "holistic" mean to you?

Natural Living

How long have you been interested in holistic living?

I have been running an Organic farm for past 10 years.

a little about me

Two years ago I suffered a back injury from work. At the time we had 53 head of cattle with 30 calves on the ground, 15 goats, 2000 range fed chickens, 150 laying hens, and 3.5 acres of organic produce. Lost it all due to injury. Trying to push forward. With help of friend have about 8 acres turned for this summer. I have a 1000 peach trees which will rot because I can't prune anymore. There are 12 pecan trees whose pecans are wasting on the ground if you would like some free pecans give me a ring. Used to be on top of the world now patching a sieve.

I think our group is too small to be your main source of business but once you are plugged into the local crowd, I think you will find a lot of support. I would talk to Baucom's but also farms like New Town (in Waxhaw) and look for others on the Eat Wild and Local Harvest sites. In talking to them you can find out what's needed, how they go about it and what things to watch out for along the way.

Again, we are happy to share your product information with our group, when you are ready.

Douglas, I believe that there are families in your area who would be interested in a garden co-op or CSA or local produce, or a work-share arrangement or to have access and distribution of local produce and meat. You are welcome to post to the "Members Resources" forum to offer your ideas and get feed back about how to proceed. The moms here are not a co-op. We have no centralized buying power. We are individual families making individual purchase decisions.

There is a continuum of concern regarding different food issues. Some of us choose only organic for our families. Some choose to emphasize local farmers. Some focus on cost. Some are concerned with the environmental impact of long distance transportation. So, depending upon your farming priorities, there will be different customers.

Currently, there are multiple Farmer's Markets locally which offer produce, meats, and milk (in SC). I know a bunch of mamas go to SC for raw milk. The concerns are the size of the herd, the amount of grain, whether the grain is GMO, whether antibiotics or growth hormones are used. Similarly with pork and chicken and eggs. Optimal is organic grain only as supplemental and free-range, without antibiotic ANY time during their life. Other folks are concerned with cost, and grain finished is ok.

Currently, we only get 100% grass fed beef from Baucoms. We purchase local produce at the Matthews Farmer's Market. And I get Absolute Organics or organic produce from EarthFare and Harris Teeter. I only purchase organic, antibiotic free, growth hormone free pork and eggs. We have chickens locally for free-range eggs. But, I'd like more easy access to those. I can get them at the Waxhaw Farmer's Market for $4 a dozen. But, you see cost and access are critical.

Additionally, we get raw milk from Atkins Farm in SC. It is $6 a gallon.

What distribution method were you considering? There are folks down in the Rock Hill area on this group and access would be much easier for them.

I have my own backyard, organic garden. But, many folks don't. Although, we've recently had a presentation about small, raised bed, organic, family gardens. And many folks are going to give that a go.

We are all individual buyers, making individual decisions for our families, as we are spread from Concord to Huntersville, Mint Hill to Steele Creek. And some folks down near Rock Hill. There is also a Columbia, SC area group of moms on the Nourishing The Carolinas message board, who are passionate about organic, local produce and meat.

Welcome Douglas, mostly we are holistic moms who connect socially about nourishing our families naturally. The forum is open to everyone interested in exploring holistic alternatives. It sounds like you are a wealth of information.

Have you looked into chiropractory or Chinese medicine, Reiki healing or Yoga, or homeopathy for healing your back injury? There are a lot of resources about those alternatives, if you want to post to the main forum.

What a difficult journey you've had with this injury! I hope that you find something to help.

You are welcome to post information about the farm in the Member Resources forum, also.